Dec 30, 2013

Star Wars was a true block buster - people queued for hours to see the movie

Following on the fins of the original blockbuster Jaws, here's a picture that that shows people queuing to see the original Star Wars movies in 1977.

Check out how it was advertised as being a 70mm print and in 6 track stereo sound!

Star Wars, as it was simply known back then, was not your typical movie blockbuster like today.

It did not have a huge publicity campaign like say a Finding Nemo or Man of Steel, it simply started out as a normal movie opening at 43 locations across the United States and not some few thousand like modern times. Word of mouth spread very quickly as to how could this movie was.

It went, in the modern internet sense, viral and people very quickly became infected with just how good the movie was! And pictures like the above were the result.

The rest is history as people loved the film and started queuing to see the film again and again. Word of mouth spread and the media picked up on the movie. Like Jaws, it literally became a blockbuster as seen by these pictures of people lining up around the block.

In 70mm reports that Star Wars was "An immediate sensation, "Star Wars" (which TIME Magazine proclaimed "The Year's Best Movie" only five months into the year) accumulated incredible per-screen averages and broke numerous box office and attendance records at the few locations lucky enough to have been playing the movie. The film industry was abuzz, and exhibitors everywhere couldn't wait to get their hands on a print. The film's distributor, 20th Century-Fox, had the lab cranking out prints as fast as they could as they accelerated their plans for a broad, nationwide release of the film."

Eventually the film was shown at over 1000 film theatres across the States and became the greatest box office hit in history, beating Jaws that came two years before in 1975.

Dec 24, 2013

I spied a featured blog in the newspaper featuring a Kiwi couple with a young baby that have turned their excess of moving boxes into a fun hobby of creating scenes from famous movies created with the boxes. I liked their Indiana Jones and Jaws boat but obviously the Star Wars one gets the treatment here! Check out the cute Wookie in the bottom left.

The television show Star Wars: Rebels is drawing closer to
release date and with it more and more promotional news is coming out. We can
watch and read as many interviews with David Filoni as we want but actual things is what we want to see!

So here’s
some Rebels concept art that features the city of Lothal. While it might sound
like something out of Lord of the Rings, they city is under Empire control.

The artwork was designed by Andre
Kirk – I wonder how much mirth that name generates at Lucasfilm…

Dec 17, 2013

Get ready to pilot -- and make some special modifications to -- some of the most famous starships in the galaxy. Disney Interactive announced today the first details for the upcoming online game Star Wars: Attack Squadrons, and has invited fans to sign up for a chance to join the action during beta tests in the new year.

The new title is a free-to-play, open web, space combat game offering an intense multiplayer battle experience where players can customize and tune popular Star Wars ships, including the Rebel Alliance's X-wing fighter or the Empire's TIE Interceptor. In Star Wars: Attack Squadrons, players will enter exciting dogfighting action with up to 16 players at a time as they maneuver through iconic Star Wars locations. Future ships, environments, and game details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Star Wars fans can sign up now for a chance to participate in the closed beta at www.starwars.com/attacksquadrons with the first play session beginning early 2014.

Star Wars: Attack Squadrons was developed by Area 52 in conjunction with Disney Interactive and LucasArts.

Dec 16, 2013

I've been on a Blake's 7 bender lately. I really enjoyed one of the earlier episodes where Brian Blessed gets to run around a planet as some kind of cult leader. He's also been doing some bank adds in NZ at the moment too so he's been on the radar a bit. .

Which meant I was able to put the connection together that Brian played Boss Nass in The Phantom Menace - which totally blew my mind. Tis a wee shame I find the character more annoying than a certain Gungan....

Dec 12, 2013

The influence of Steven Spielberg on George Lucas and Star Wars

Steven Spielberg is arguably one of the most popular and
talented film makers there is. They invented the word blockbuster because of
his film Jaws. Literally people queued up around the block to see the 1975
movie! To see a shark eat a man. Or three.

Spielberg went on to create wonderful films including science fiction
gold such as E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, A.I. and Minority
Report. Not too forget his other works such as the Oscar winning Shindler'sList, Saving Private Ryan or this author's favourite Spielberg movie, Empire ofthe Sun.

So why are we talking about Steven Spielberg on a Star Wars
fan site? What's the connection to George Lucas? What influence has he had?

There's many connections
(other than a great friendship) - four of them are some films that all feature
a certain whip wearing character called Indiana Jones. You see, Spielberg
directed those movies but they were largely George Lucas productions - he wrote and produced them to satisfy his desire to capture the magic of the films that
had inspired him as a child.

Spielberg once said "With Star Wars, George put the butter back into the popcorn.” which is possibly the greatest compliment one director can give another.

So the connection between Spielberg and Lucas is very real
and very close. They've made movies together so surely they must have had the
odd chat with each other about the movies they've made?

Of course they have and
this has lead to Spielberg have some influence over the direction in which
George Lucas took the Star Wars films - after all, if one of your greatest
friends is a fan of your work and ideas and is actually one of the world's greatest
directors in his own right, you'd totally take some of his suggestions and ideas on board!

So lets look at some of the actual influences that Steven
Spielberg has had on the Star Wars universe.

A New Hope, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and a certain bet

Let's start with an indirect one. After making THX1138 and
the acclaimed American Graffiti, Lucas had made a name for himself in Hollywood
and was working on production of Star Wars.

At a similar time Spielberg was
producing Close Encounters of the Third Kind. George was a bit nervous about
how Star Wars was going to turn out and during a set visit to Spielberg's film
expressed such concerns. Steven promptly backed his friend so much so he suggested they swap royalty points on each other's films by way of a bet that each other's film would do better. Fearing a flop with
his own movie, Lucas agreed.

While Encounters did pretty well at the box
office, Spielberg actually cleaned up on Star Wars and it's now the stuff of
legend that he actually has made over 46 million dollars to date from Star Wars
and he didn't even have to lift a finger to do it! Has an easier 46 million
bucks ever been made from a set visit by a friend?

Da na. Da na. Da na!

Let's go back to Jaws, the first film we mentioned. Other than the shark, Bruce was his name, eating Captain Quint, one of the most famous parts of that movie was the music. The classic two note motif was the work of a composer called John Williams.

It was Spielberg that suggested and introduced Williams to Lucas to score the music of Stars Wars. Given Williams' subsequent score has become one of the most famous, if not the most famous movies scores of all time, Spielberg's influence on Star Wars was massive enough for this alone!

When Jango
Fett gets into his ship after his fight with Obi-Wan in Attack of the
Clones, he bangs his head on the open door. This was intentional, and is a
reference to a famous goof from the orginal movie where a cloned storm trooper
accidentally bangs his head on a door (the clone being the descendant of Jango
Fett and having inherited this character trait).

The Holiday Special. Enough said?

Why in Jedi does Old Ben say, that boy is our last hope when
he already knows possibly that Leia could become a Jedi? (Yeah it’s a stretch,
we know).

When we learned that R2D2 could fly in Revenge of the Sith. What the heck?? That little trick could have been handy many times!

When during the Battle of Hoth, the Rebels decided to flee
by flying directly into the path of the Imperial Fleet and Vader. Why do this
when they could have gone off in any direction and they could have all split
up? Weird battle strategy!

This conversation means that C3PO says the last line of the movie and then the first in the following, A New Hope which makes for some nice continuity.

The Force Awakens

First line - Lor San Tekka to Poe Dameron: "This will begin to make things right. I've traveled too far and seen too much to ignore the despair in the galaxy. Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force."

Dec 9, 2013

There's plenty of things to love in Star Wars. Space battles, sword fights, escapes by the skin of one's teeth and a certain metal bikini. There's also plenty of chilling moments. Here's 10 of the best of them... Why do most of these moments feature Vader?*

When Vader force chokes the Admiral with the line “I find your lack of faith disturbing”.

Dec 7, 2013

The Toy Story movies have a tonne of references to Star Wars in the form of Easter Eggs, character lines and plot points. You just gotta know where to look....

The original Toy Story

When
Buzz Lightyear is on the bed after Andy put him there, a pan shot is seen
through his eyes. Then we can hear breathing that is similar to Darth
Vader's.

When
Buzz and Woody are hiding in the truck in the gas station, Buzz says to Woody,
"Right now, poised at the edge of the galaxy, Emperor Zurg has been
secretly building a weapon with the destructive capacity to annihilate an
entire planet!!! I alone have information that reveals this weapon's only
weakness....", which is very similar the plot of the original Star Wars

When
Sid "interrogates" Woody, he says: "Oh! A survivor! Where's
the Rebel base!? Talk!!!" and a short bit after this: "Where are your
Rebel friends now? Hahahaha!"

When
Buzz sees the Buzz Lightyear commercial on the TV, the sound we can hear
when Buzz "shoots" a laser is a TIE fighter's cannon sound.

Toy Story 2

In
the opening scene with the space background shot, the music is very similar to
the what we can hear after the Star Wars titles. There is
also the moment just after this when Buzz passes by, like after every Star
Wars title, a ship passes by.

When
a camera comes out through a trap door in a wall, it is a nod to Jabba the Hutt's palace's camera at the main entrance.

Zurg
says, "Come to me, my prey," like when Darth Vader says
to Luke, "Come to me, my son" in The Empire Strikes
Back. At the same moment Buzz goes into a hall that lights up when he
enters, just like the one Luke takes during his duel
against Darth Vader on Cloud City. The room he arrives in has a great pit
that looks just like the one in the Emperor's throne room on the
second Death Star.

When Zurg arrives, he says: "So, we meet again,
Buzz Lightyear, for the last time." like Darth Vader in the Death
Star when he says to Obi-Wan "I've been waiting for
you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last." And of course Emperor Zurg's
design is directly inspired after Darth Vader's armor, especially the
helmet.

The
opening scene contains a number of sound effects from Star Wars,
including Darth Vader's breathing, and X-Wing, TIE fighter and lightsaber sounds.

Later
in the movie, Buzz Lightyear II accuses Emperor Zurg of killing his
father. Then, Zurg reveals that he is Buzz's father: "No, Buzz, I am
your father," as Buzz screams "Noooooo!" while descending
down the elevator. By the end of the film, they're playing together and
experiencing lots of good father-son bonding.

Toy Story 3

When
Buzz is under Lotso's control and takes out his friends, Jessie protests,
and he tells her: "Silence, minions of Zurg ! You're in the
custody of the Galactic Alliance!", which is a tribute to the quote
of Darth Vader in A New Hope when he tells Princess Leia :
"You are part of the Rebel Alliance, and a traitor. Take her away!”

At
the end, when Trixie and Rex are playing on the computer, we can hear a
typical Star Wars sound when they finish their game. This
sound is the one heard when C-3PO and R2-D2 flee from
the Tantive IV in an escape pod, or when Mars Guo's
podracer's motor explodes after having sucked up the tool the dastardly Sebulba had
thrown to it.

When
Big Baby throws Lotso the Bear into the dumpster, it is a reference to
Darth Vader throwing Emperor Palpatine into the reactor.

Dec 6, 2013

5 points that were quite subtle moments in the Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars movies are not all run and gun. While many viewers just enjoy them as a spectacle, George Lucas puts plenty of subtley into his movies. You just have to pay attention. He crammed ROTS with some great little moments.Here's 5 we found.

A quick character cameo occurs when Vader and the Emperor are standing on the bridge of a Star Destroyer, overlooking the initial construction stage of the Death Star. In a blink an you'll miss it moment, a young Moff Tarkin quietly sidles up to the Sith Lords. Moff Tarkin features heavily in A New Hope, it is he who orders the destruction of the planet Alderann.

In Rogue One Tarkin is actually given an extended role.Guy Henry was motion captured acting out the role and a CGI version of Tarkin was placed over Henry's head. The character was quite great, showing a strong sense of ruthlessness in his ability to assume command over the Death Star from Krennic and to destroy his on troops on the ground when he fired the Death Star on his own Scarif base.

During the opera scene, Palpatine tells Anakin about how Darth Plagueis was so powerful he could create life. While it's never made explicit, the film could have been suggesting that Darth Plagueis caused the 'conception*' of Anakin Skywalker. The Expanded Universe novels show that Plagueis certainly was capable of such an amazing act...

Goodbye, old friend

Darth Vader's head was symmetrical for the first time in a Star Wars film. It was developed using precise machinery - the original was hand sculpted and was mildly aspherical!

As General Kenobi is about to leave to hunt down General Grevious, he shares a nice moment with Anakin which finishes with a very loving, 'Good bye old friend' from Kenobi. This is the last time in the movie the two Jedi converse as friends. A key thing is the lighting - Anakin in the dark and Obi Wan in the light - it is a literal case of foreshadowing what was to come.

Bail Organa and Yoda step into the hallway of Organa's ship and have a nice coversation about being rebels or something? It's the actual ship that Darth Vader boards to capture Princess Leia Organa in the start of A New Hope.

After Padme dies, she is returned to Naboo for burial - her body has been altered to make it appear like she was still pregnant - this is all part of the ruse to kept the existence of Leia and Luke a secret

But what was the most subtle part? Killing of the Younglings was a pretty obvious move. While the murder is off screen, it is blatant what Anakin has just done. He has murdered innocent children. Nothing subtle about that. The subtlety is that this moment was set up and a call back to the prior film, Attack of the Clones. Recall the scene where in front of the Younglings, Obi Wan and Yoda chat about how Obi want has lost a planet (how embarrassing!). This is the same class (but different students). Clever and chilling.

Bonus moment!

Revenge of the Sith also featured a very cool reference to one of the films by a Japanese director that inspired the original Star Wars film.

Dec 5, 2013

A keen Star Wars fan on Reddit pointed out this moment in
Revenge of the Sith. It is the last time that Obi Wan Kenobi and his padawan
learner Anakin Skywalker spoke as friends. Which is nice and all but the even
though I can’t remember how many times I have seen the movie, I never picked up
the deliberate lighting placed on the Jedi Knights. Anakin is in the dark shadows while Young Ben
is bathed in an almost holy glow. This is presumably to emphasise what’s about
to happen and thus could actually be a literal piece of foreshadowing…

In this scene Obi Wan says to Anakin, “Goodbye old friend”
which also obviously has broader meaning than an ordinary goodbye.

Another Redditor made a pithy
observation about the symbolism that Lucas made – “ If this was a
screenshot of a similar visual metaphor from Breaking Bad, everybody would be
falling over themselves about how brilliant Vince Gilligan is.”

Which pretty
much sums things up nicely in terms of how much love the Prequels get – it’s
certainly nice to see the Reddit crew celebrating this nice film making moment!

Star Wars is perhaps the most ubiquitous sci-fi franchise that's out there. There's the popularity of the films and expanded universe to start with and with the dawn of the internet, video games and fan made content Star Wars can be found references in all kinds of places.

Here are some of the more popular or clever Easter eggs or references made in popular mediums that feature elements from a long time ago in a far away galaxy.

This list doesn’t included long segments in TV shows or
films that parody Star Wars. Shows like Friends, Simpsons, That 70s Show and
Scrubs made key moments out of Star Wars and of course Family Guy did three huge
parodies!

Television

Firefly features a statue of Han Solo frozen in carbonite:

Films

In the ‘giant monsters from the deep’ film Pacific Rim, Raleigh’s brother Yancy lectures his younger sibling with Han Solo’s classic, “Don’t get cocky, kid.”

In Pixar's Toy Story 2 Zurg reveals himself to be Buzz's father, thus being a direct reference to Empire.

Austin Powers 2 also ran that joke (and basically was a giant Star Wars riff when it wasn't being James Bond):

Another Pixars film has it's two main characters characters enjoying a showing of a certain film:

Se7en was a pretty heavy serial killer movie which would seem an unlikely place to find a reference but Brad Pitt found a way with this quote: "Just because the f***er's got a library card doesn't make him Yoda."

George Lucas and Steven Speilberg collaborated on the Indianna Jones films - Temple of Doom featured Club Obiwan - now we wonder where they got that name from?

In JJ Abrams first Star Trek film, just before entering warp to go to the planet Vulcan's aid Captain Christopher Pike orders Sulu to "Punch it. just like Han Solo does to Chewie.

The famous Obi Wan club found in Indianna Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

The Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America had a pretty meta reference that featured the voice actor of Darth Vader, James Earl Jones uttering the line he used from Star Wars when talking about his son "I'll deal with him myself"

The Krogan called Wrex say's "It's a trap" after being ambushed by Geth. Which kinda makes sense as he looks a little bit like Admiral Ackbar himself.

When Commander Sheppard assists the Cerberus scientists escape the attacking soldiers the line "The first transport is away.." is cheerily announced and is a reference to the Rebels escaping the planet Hoth in Empire Strikes Back.

JJ has a bromance going with Steven Spielberg. JJ wrote the screenplay for Speilberg's 1992 film, Forever Young which stared Mel Gibson and Jaime Lee Curtis. Since then the pair have worked collaboratively and most famously on Super 8 where JJ directed Spielberg produced. But how did this bromance start? During their teens, JJ and his friend Matt Reeves scored a job restoring old film footage for Speilberg!

Given his clear science fiction tendancies, JJ actually was the force behind the TV show Felicity. The success of that show lead to more shows like Lost and Alias. Which were cool!

Is quoted as saying "Star Wars is probably the most influential film of my generation. It's the personification of good and evil and the way it opened up the world to space adventure, the way westerns had to our parents' generations, left an indelible imprint. So, in a way, everything that any of us does is somehow directly or indirectly affected by the experience of seeing those first three films".

Like the Queen song, he wanted it all and was unafraid to knock a few heads together to do it.

And he did it so well by playing people and entire planetary systems against each other and he did it without hardly raising a light saber.

Along the way he said many awesome quotes and lines. Whilst Jedi serves as the Emperor's last hurrah, it was the Prequel Trilogy that showed just how great the Sith Lord was with some choice words here and there!

Here's Emperor Palpatine's top ten best quotes from StarWars

The Empire Strikes Back

We first met the Emperor in this film.

He was presented via a Hologram and he looked like some deranged monkey.

We weren't given much insight into who he was but he was clearly Vader's boss and that counted for something as this conversation showed:

Darth Vader: What is thy bidding, my master? Emperor: There is a great disturbance in the Force. Darth Vader: I have felt it. Emperor: We have a new enemy, the young Rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker. Darth Vader: How is that possible? Emperor: Search your feelings, Lord Vader. You will know it to be true. He could destroy us. Darth Vader: He's just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him. Emperor: The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi. Darth Vader: If he could be turned, he will become a powerful ally. Emperor: Yes. He would be a great asset. Can it be done? Darth Vader: He will join us or die, my master.

Return of the Jedi quotes by The Emperor

While Vader and Palpatine were doing their best to provoke Luke into tapping into the Dark Side of the Force, they went through a bit of banter.

Who was ultimately right in this exchange?

"So be it, Jedi!"

The coolest thing about this line at the end of Jedi was that this was the Emperor admitting that Luke Skywalker, the kid who once whined about picking about power converters from Tosche Station was now a Jedi

Without Yoda to admit Luke to the Jedi, it was as close as Luke was ever going to get his 'Jedi Badge' pinned to his chest.

It was also about the time the Palpatine let forth with a blast of blue Force electricity on Luke.

The Phantom Menace quotes

"And you, young Skywalker; we shall watch your career with great interest."

Of course he would say that wouldn't he?

"There is no civility, only politics."

"A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one" - this quote seems to have taken a life of it's own and is a popular meme across the internet. Many people use it at face value and it works quite well.

Attack of the Clones

Palpatine feigning: Master Yoda. Do you really think it will come to war? Yoda: The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see the future is.

Yoda has no idea he is talking to a Sith Lord who has manipulated and entire galaxy into war and Palpatine plays the the part like the brilliant politician he is.Mas Amedda: This is a crisis. The Senate must vote to give the chancellor emergency powers. He can then approve the creation of an army without a vote.Palpatine: But what senator would have the courage to propose such a radical amendment?

Here's Palpatine at his finest, gently pushing and prodding his political pawns around the chess board to get the results he wants - ultimate power.

"It is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling. I love democracy. I love the Republic. Once this crisis has abated, I will lay down the powers you have given me!

And so marks the true ascendancy of the Sith Lord as he builds his Empire. Did he ever intend to lay down his powers? No, he took on even more powers in Revenge of the Sith - causing the death of democracy with thunderous applause.

Revenge of the Sith quotes

It's treason then

Revenge of the Sith is where Palpatine finally cut loose and unleashed himself on the world as Darth Sidious.Mace Windu "In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you're under arrest, Chancellor."Darth Sidious "Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?"Mace Windu"The Senate will decide your fate."Darth Sidious "I am the Senate!"Mace Windu "Not yet."Darth Sidious "It's treason, then."

A nice exchange which conveys a fair bit of the intent of Palpatine and bit of a sledge at Mace Windu - which is meant to be dramatic irony as the Emperor is the real traitor to the Senate.

They then had a pretty sweet sword fight.Mace Windu: The oppression of the Sith will never return! You, my lord, have lost! Darth Sidious: No... no... no! YOU WILL DIE!

Well actually Mace, Sidious was right about that, out the window you go!

"It seems in your anger, you killed her"

The Emperor didn't know for sure that Padme was dead - Obi Wan had managed to take her to Polis Massa - so he was lying to Darth Vader, thus pretty much sealing the deal with his young apprentice as Vader's resulting anger was what drove him thereafter.

So these are some quotes by the evil Sith Lord - they're of the kind to show his conniving and cunning machinations - there's plenty more to choose from - what are your favourites?

Dec 1, 2013

This little Star Wars blog, has been chugging along since April this year. It’s been great fun – I’ve learned a heck of lot about the Star Wars universe, the films – especially in terms of the production of them and the plot points – some of them are really subtle!

Many fans have sought out facts and trivia about the franchise – here’s the popular posts that they’ve come across as part of their quest to learn more about Darth Vader, Obi Wan and blue milk.

Everybody Loves Obiwan – well his quotes at least! The General knew a thing or two about fighting in the Clone Wars and had a lot to say.

Star Wars featured one of the baddest bad guys in the history of
bad ass bad guys. Darth Vader was one of the greatest Sith Lords – but what is
a Sith Lord?

These four questions (answered of course) may help you…

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What or who are the Sith?One could argue they are the opposites of the Jedi. They stand against them in the shadow of the dark side of the Force. Sith Lords were considered powerful practitioners of the dark side.

What does ‘Darth’ mean?

Darth is the title given to certain Sith Lords. Darth is the
embodiment of death and has become synonymous with the dark side of the Force.
Those choosing to become a part of the Sith also use the term to symbolise they
are giving up their old life. Classic examples of this are Anakin Skywalker
becoming Darth Vader and Count Dooku being a fallen Jedi taking up the Sith
Mantle.

In terms of the legacy of Star Wars – Darth Vader was the first
and only Sith Lord to be known with the title of Darth. When Darth Sidious and
Darth Maul were revealed in The Phantom Menace the popularity of the title was
assured and is used widely in the expanded universe novels and video games.

What is the so called “Rule of Two”?

It is a pairing of Sith. One Sith Lord acts as the master to embody the power and one is lead to crave it. The apprentice was trained by the Master until he or she was strong enough in the Force to kill his or her master.

Sidious actually went threw 3 apprentices - Darth Maul until he died at the hands of Obi Wan, Count Dooku who was a 'pretend' apprentice designed to be more of a puppet as part of Sidious' plans and of course Anakin Skywalker.

Who was Darth Plagueis that was mentioned by Palpatine in Revenge
of the Sith?

Plagueis was the master of Darth Sidious (known to many as Emperor
Palpatine) and was said to be so powerful that he has able to create life
itself. Shame he didn’t foresee his death when Sidious killed him in his sleep.

Palpatine used this story of Plagueis to suggest to Anakin Skywalker that he
might be able to use this power to save Padme.